A 4-part series pondering the generations greatest running barrier
Prior to the emergence of Roger Bannister in the 1950s, scientists believed that attempting to break the 4:00 mile would lead to irreparable injury or death due to cardiac overload. They saw this feat as superhuman, an insurmountable task, a Herculean endeavor. Yet, on one fateful day at Oxford , a young doctoral candidate dipped below this time barrier on a cinder track in windy conditions. This alluring benchmark was no longer a destination unto itself for milers, but rather a rite of passage. Today, as evidence, the 4:00 mark for the mile run is quite modest among elites.
This scenario now begs the question when paralleled in discussion of the 2:00 marathon- will this unfathomable time become rather commonplace in the future, as well? Will it soon be shattered by an unassuming man of steel, or will it remain elusive and mysterious for many years to come?
This article will examine what it will take for a runner to approach and surpass this mark, but it is up to you the reader to determine the plausibility of this most ponderous prospect.
Photo Courtesy of telegraph.co.uk
Setting the Stage
At the moment, with the official world marathon record resting on Wilson Kipsang’s 2:03.23, we are a significant distance from a 1:59.59. I believe that a sub-2:02 will happen rather quickly, but it will take a good number of years to approach the above barrier-breaking time. Geoffrey Mutai and Moses Mosop have both run under Kipsang’s mark at the 2011 edition of the Boston Marathon, but the IAAF denied the validity of these times due to the point-to-point, “downhill” nature of the course. For the purpose of this article, we will accept the official stance on this questionable matter, and say that there are three minutes and 24 seconds between the current world record and the 2:00 mark.
Let us assume that a budding elite has the ability to break 2:00 for the marathon, and that his hypothetical name is “Sammy” (in honor of the late Sammy Wanjiru, 2008 Olympic Marathon Champion). This runner will have to be capable of some very fast track times in addition to a (most likely) world record performance in the half-marathon. He will also have one or two marathon races under his belt run at sub maximal effort to simply “learn” the distance. I believe his 2:00 attempt would have to come on very fresh legs and a very youthful mindset undisturbed by the possible cruelty of racing 26.2 miles. Our runner would have to be fearless in a blissfully naïve way to pursue this feat.
Let us now look at this person in particular, representative of a prime candidate to shatter the world paradigm on what constitutes a plausible marathon time.
Read More—-> Part 2 | Breaking the 2:00 Marathon: The Man
The post Breaking the 2:00 Marathon Barrier appeared first on Running Shoe Reviews. Written by Endurance Sport